Roving journalist and author Pepe Escobar joins us to discuss the latest developments on Syria. We delve into the facts and sources on the latest chemical weapons allegations. We discuss Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar, Russia, the Kurd’s stand, the greater geopolitical implications of the nearing war on Syria and much more. Do not miss this riveting episode of the Boiling Frogs Show.

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times. He is an investigative journalist with three decades of experience in covering politics and conflicts around the globe. He’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, based in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, and Bangkok. Mr. Escobar is the author of three must-read books: Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War, Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge, and Obama Does Globalistan.

Dr. Gareth Porter carefully breaks down the unclassified summary of the Obama administration's "evidence" that the Syrian military is responsible for the reported chemical weapons attack on August 21 in the Damascus suburb of Adra. We start with the shifting US positions on UN weapons inspectors, and the lack of evidence for any of the strong assertions that Kerry offered with a string of introductory "We know" clauses, followed by innuendo and circumstantial evidence. We also talk about the purported interception of Syrian communications and the listening post on Cyprus at Mt. Troodos. Our discussions included the wide range of estimated fatalities, the grisly videos that do not show victims vomiting (a clear sign of sarin), the reports of chemical weapons in the hands of opposition cells near the town of Ghouta and more!

Dr. Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on U.S. national security policy who has been independent since a brief period of university teaching in the 1980s. He is the author of four books, the latest of which is Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam. He has written regularly for Inter Press Service on U.S. policy toward Iraq and Iran since 2005. Dr. Porter was both a Vietnam specialist and an anti-war activist during the Vietnam War and was Co-Director of Indochina Resource Center in Washington.

It has long been acknowledged that the Saudis have been one of the key players funding, arming, training and smuggling terrorists into Syria during the conflict. But the Saudi connection to the fighting in Syria took on a new dimension in the wake of last month's chemical attack on Ghouta. The Saudis are now being blamed for supplying the chemical weapons that the rebels used in the attack. In one key report, veteran AP correspondent Dale Gavlak and on-the-ground reporter Yahyah Ababneh interviewed rebels in Ghouta who alleged that the weapons had been supplied by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi intelligence chief.

Find out more about the Bandar Bush and the Syrian Subversion in this week's EyeOpener report with James Corbett.

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Ayssar Midani, a French Syrian citizen and political activist, joins us from Damascus to talk about the latest developments in Syria. We talk about the history of the terrorist jihadi insurgency in the country and their prior use of chemical weapons, the latest attack and claims of satellite evidence proving that the attack was not launched by government officials, and the likely consequences of a US-led strike on the country. [Read more...]